Network management, although a key ingredient in a successful deployment of a multi-hop wireless network, has received limited attention by both industry and research communities. Troubleshooting a network is an aspect of network management that is responsible for maintaining the “health” of the network and for ensuring its smooth and continued operation. Troubleshooting a network, whether wired or wireless, is complicated by interactions encountered among different network entities, among different faults, and so on.
Troubleshooting a multi-hop wireless network is further complicated by a variety of additional factors. For instance, typical multi-hop wireless networks are generally prone to link errors caused by signal propagation fluctuations. The signal propagation fluctuations may be caused by a variety of factors, such as fluctuating environmental conditions. These fluctuations result in a network topology that is dynamic and unpredictable. Node mobility further aggravates these factors, as nodes may be positioned in a variety of locations while connected to the network, thereby increasing the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the network. Additionally, the capacity of multi-hop wireless networks is generally limited due to scarcity of resources (e.g., bandwidth, battery power, and so on), which constrains the amount of management traffic overhead that the network can tolerate. Further, a wireless network may be vulnerable to link attacks from malicious parties. The attackers, for example, can inject false information to disrupt or interfere with the network management effort.
Traditional heuristic and theoretical techniques that were traditionally utilized to perform network troubleshooting typically do not capture the behavior of the network as implemented in a “real” environment. For example, network behavior may be governed by node interaction, one to another, as well as by external noise sources positioned in the vicinity of the nodes. Traditional heuristic or theoretical techniques do not capture the behavior of such a network and do not adequately address interaction between the different components of the network with its surrounding environment.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a framework for network troubleshooting.